Dark Fibre Africa buys stake in SA Digital Villages

Dark Fibre Africa (DFA), South Africa’s provider of open-access fibre infrastructure, on Tuesday announced that it has acquired a significant minority stake in SA Digital Villages (SADV), which has a proven track record in the FTTH market segment.

The transaction will see SADV reposition itself as a wholesale open access FTTH service provider in the South African market. SADV has been in existence for 8 years and is one the longest serving operators of FTTH networks in South Africa. SADV will leverage the DFA national fibre footprint to build and extend the reach of their open-access FTTH network.

SADV will now offer its FTTH network on a wholesale basis to ISPs, enabling them to deliver a range of internet and value-added services to consumers, while at the same time providing consumers with choice and the benefits associated with service-based competition.

“We chose SADV for their extensive experience and proven capabilities in FTTH. DFA through SADV will focus its efforts in the FTTH market to deliver open access high speed connectivity to our service provider customer base,” said Reshaad Sha, Chief Strategy Officer at DFA.

Notably, the acquisition will see both organisations still operating as separate entities where current job roles remain unaffected. It will also empower employees to seize greater opportunities through the emerging FTTH market.

Shaun Barkhuizen, SADV’s CEO, believes that the provision of an open access wholesale solution will address the issue of duplicate fibre deployment, which we are currently experiencing as multiple service providers race to grab the most lucrative areas.

“Collaboration is the solution to ensure nationwide high speed connectivity as a utility and not a luxury.”